with a successful debate performance under his belt, mitt romney is distancing himself from his own words about the 47%. >> in the past, he stood by the comments. but overnight, there was a major change. abc's tahman bradley joins us from washington, with more. tahman? >> reporter: good morning, rob and reena. mitt romney is showing a lot of confidence on the stump. and we'll see if his strong debate performance gives him a boost in the polls. but for now, romney is trying to put to rest a controversy that's dogged him for weeks. with his campaign reenergized after a strong showing in wednesday's debate, mitt romney took on the controversy, surrounding his comments that 47% of americans are dependent on government. shortly after a tape of his comments were released, romney said his remarking were not eloquently stated. but in an interview on fox news, he offered a new explanation. >> it's completely wrong. and i absolutely believe, however, that my life has shown that i care about 100%. >> reporter: president obama, meanwhile, is trying to rebound from what many believe was a lackluster d